Beyond Madness: The Pain and Possibilities of Serious Mental Illness

by Rachel A. Pruchno

Reveals proven solutions for bettering the lives of people with serious mental illness, their families, and their communities.

Leading scientist and gifted storyteller Rachel A. Pruchno, PhD, was shocked to encounter misinformation, ignorance, and intolerance when she sought to help her daughter, newly diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Turning to the scientific literature, Dr. Pruchno eventually found solutions, but she realized many others would need help to understand the highly technical writing and conflicting findings.

In Beyond Madness—part memoir, part history, and part empathetic guide—Dr. Pruchno draws on her decades as a mental health professional, her own family's experiences with mental illness, and extensive interviews with people with serious mental illness to discuss how individuals live with these illnesses, including bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and major depression.

The book:


presents real-world vignettes that vividly describe what it is like to experience some of the most troubling symptoms of a severe mental illness
offers practical advice for how individuals, family members, and communities can help people with a serious mental illness
explains how people with mental illness can find competent health care providers, identify treatment regimens, overcome obstacles to treatment, cope with stigma, and make decisions
provides insight into programs, such as Crisis Intervention Training, that can help people undergoing mental health crisis avoid jail and get the treatment they need
takes aim at the popular concept of "rock bottom" and reveals why this is such a harmful and simplistic approach
advocates for evidence-based care
documents examples of communities that have embraced successful strategies for promoting recovery
shows that people with serious mental illnesses can live productive lives
Meticulously researched and engagingly written, Beyond Madness is a call to action and a promise of hope for everyone who cares about and interacts with the millions of people who have serious mental illness. Family members, friends, teachers, police, primary care doctors, and clergy—people who recognize that something is wrong but don't know how to help—will find the book's practical advice invaluable.

378 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 26, 2022

Reviews

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Rachel Pruchno’s book, Surrounded By Madness, which chronicles her daughter’s mental illness. Pruchno and her husband had a huge handful with their daughter Sophie. The book ends with Sophie leaving home at age 19, which is normal, but I think she was unmedicated. And she might have been doing drugs.

So I thought that this book was a sequel, but it isn’t really. It’s part memoir, yes, but it also follows 3 different mentally ill people from the onset of their sickness to their lives today.

Surrounded By Madness should be read by mentally ill people’s loved ones. There is plenty of information on what to do and when, like getting a crisis plan together so you’ll know what to do, who to call, etc. if a family member is in crisis.

I learned a lot of stuff I had no idea about. But there were also plenty of things I already knew, which made those parts boring. It’s a really helpful book, though.

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recommend this book to anyone with a family member who has a serious mental illness. It's current and comprehensive, covering the history of treatment, models for treatment, patients' perspectives, and how law enforcement, incarceration, and the law in general intersects with mental illness treatment/non-treatment. So many changes need to be made, all-around.